Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 164

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318

USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania > Part 164

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The place first became a business point in 1815, when Martial and Eber Dimmick opened a small store at the corner, near the Presbyterian Church. About fifteen years later Peck & Cole traded at the same point, and later a man named Brigham mer- chandised a short time. In the present business part of the village, which was long known as Frost Hol- low, Thomas Arnold opened the first store about 1847. The building stood on the site of the present Thomas' store, and was occupied after him by John Miller, who traded about eighteen years, when he moved to the State of New York. Bobert M. Arnold, Dr. A. B. Woodward and the firm of Wm. Ketchum and Geo. W. Potter were later occupants, the build- ing burning down while occupied by the latter in 1871. On this lot J. E. Thomas and Edward Morgan erected a business house in 1874, where they traded until 1880, since which time J. E. Thomas alone has been the merchant. Diagonally opposite C. H. Ellis erected a store in 1872, where he traded until his

death, in 1886. He was also interested in manufac- turing, and was the first local coal dealer. His stand is now occupied by Horace H. Lewis. In 1881 Ed- ward Morgan, and Ira W. Ryder engaged in trade in the Elias Westgate building, where John F. Bass opened the first hardware store in 1886. Isaac T. Curtis had a store on the flat a short time, and Ira W. Ryder is now trading in a building formerly used as a furniture wareroom. In 1881 Olney Rounds put up another store in which L. M. Kean and others have traded.

The outlet of Lewis Lake here affords several water- powers which have been well utilized. David N. Lewis made the first improvement, putting up a small grist-mill about 1820, which was used many years. On its site the present mill was built, in 1857, by Geo. W. Arnold and D. A. Moon, and has since been im- proved by Edwin and Albert Corey. A number of persons have had an interest in the property, which is finely located, having a side-track from the railroad. Corey and Tingley are the present proprietors. The saw-mill was first put up, on a lease, by a man named French. Ezra Carpenter, Wells & Co. and C. H. Ellis were later operators, the family of the latter still owning the property. In 1844 Robert M. and Thomas Arnold put up a turning-shop, which was en- larged to quite an industry after their brother, George W., was associated with them. Handles of all kinds were turned and large quantities of bedsteads made. Shingles were also sawed. In 1882 E. Morgan re- built the turning-shop. Robert and Elias Westgate are the present owners.

HON. C. H. ELLIS .- His grandfather, Stephen Ellis, was a Revolutionary soldier, a native of Connecticut, a carpenter by trade, and in 1810, with his wife, Rebecca, and young children, he journeyed westward and cast his lot with the infant County of Susque- hanna, settling about two miles west of Uniondale, on what is now known as Lyon Street. His children were Urania, Polly, Hezekiah Huntington, Rebecca, Stephen, and Jonathan Trumbull Ellis, the latter of whom became a leading citizen and was County com- missioner 1865-71. Stephen, the elder, died in 1847, aged eighty-four years. His eldest son, Hezekiah Huntington Ellis (1796-1828), interested himself in public affairs and was relied on by the people to a considerable extent. He was one of the constituent members of the Dundaff Presbyterian Church and aided in its erection. He also took part in the Volun- teer movement and was captain of a company in Colonel Gould Phinny's Regiment. He married Mary Moore, a native of Rhode Island, born June 23, 1800, and his children were Hezekiah H. (1823- 68), was a farmer in Herrick township; Mary Char- lotte (1825-86), was a much-valued teacher in Penn- sylvania and Rhode Island; Charles Henry; and Anna M., who died in childhood. About seven years after the death of her husband, Mrs. Ellis be- came the wife of Wheeler Lyon (1794-1870), and had

6 Ho Elles ,

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HERRICK.

two children, Amanda O. and Walter F., both of whom are now deceased.

Charles Henry Ellis, born May 20, 1827, supple- mented the limited educational facilities of those days by steady after-reading, and was also a close student of men and affairs. His early manhood was passed in the railroad service, at school, teaching and in surveying, the latter of which he frequently prac- ticed in his maturer years. He was foreman in the furniture factory of his cousin, G. W. Arnold & Co., at Uniondale, for some years, and, upon his death, bought a half-interest, and carried on the business with the widow Arnold, which was combined with that of undertaking. He afterward associated Mr. Westgate in the business for a few years, then sold out and began a highly-prosperous mercantile career, which ended only with his untimely decease, Feb- ruary 3, 1886, resulting from an accident incurred in the saw-mill, which he also owned in the bor- ough. He was postmaster from January, 1871, until September, 1885, and he was the first burgess of Uniondale, which position he was occupying at the time of his death. Possessed of a strong undercurrent of religious fervor, he, in 1864, united with the Pres- byterian Church, and for many years was one of the trustees and an elder-the ruling elder since 1878. In the Sabbath-school work he was a tower of strength teacher and superintendent for many years. He carried into politics the same unswerving devotion to principle which characterized his everyday life ; and, when elected as the candidate of the Republican party to the State Legislature, lie served the people with the strength and ability of a matured Christian man- hood. He was placed upon several important com- mittees, and both at Harrisburg and elsewhere was a firm opponent of the liquor traffic. He was prof- fered the nomination of his party for State Senator, but declined to allow his name to be presented, hav- ing extensive business interests to foster, and pre- ferring the comfort and quiet of a pleasant home-life to the excitement and turmoil of politics. He was conscientious and benevolent to all worthy objects.

He married Anna E. Lewis in 1857, the daughter of James (1800-84, a native of the Lake country), and Maria Tobey (born 1804 in Otsego Connty, N. Y.), Lewis, whose children were Esther Jane, the widow of Philip Ricks, a tanner and farmer, of Broome County, N. Y .; John Tabor Lewis, a mechanic, who married Elizabeth Follett, and now lives with his second wife, Helen Wallace, in Clifford township ; Horace Harvey Lewis, a merchant in Uniondale, who married Leah Kishbaugh; and Ann E., now the widow of Hon. C. H. Ellis. James Lewis was the son of John and Jane Lewis and came to Susque- hanna County after the death of his father when he was twelve years old, to live with his uncle, David N. Lewis, who owned the first grist-mill in this scc- tion. His widow, now past her eighty-third year, and the widow of Captain H. H. Ellis, now in her

eighty-seventh year, find a welcome home with Mrs. C. H. Ellis in Uniondale borough.

In 1871 W. U. Norton erected mechanic shops below the railroad, and, after several years, employed water-power to operate his machinery, continuing to the present time. Morris Davis and Orlando Darrow were other early permanent mechanics. In 1886 H. H. Spencer and Charles H. Coleman erected another large mechanic shop, the upper story of which has been fitted up for a hall.

The first public house was opened by Edward Mel- edy in 1871, and was enlarged by him at different periods. He kept it until 1884, when he was suc- ceeded by John C. Hughes. Since March, 1887, Charles A. Wademan has been the proprietor.

Dr. Jolin C. Plant practiced medicine for a tiine at Uniondale, as also did Drs. A. B. Woodward, Norman Brundage and W. W. Fletcher, the latter until the spring of 1886. Dr. Sanford Lyons is the present practitioner. Among the natives who entered this profession, are Dr. Anthony Dimmick, who died in Schuylkill County, and Dr. Alice Burritt, of Oakland, Cal. The latter was born at Uniondale, November 7, 1841, and after teaching a number of years, graduated from the New York Medical College for Women, April 10, 1879. She served as a hospital physician one year, then located to practice in California, fol- lowing the profession successfully.

The Susquehanna County Messenger was established May 1, 1883, as an eight-page weekly, and was pub- lished at Uniondale by W. T. Morgan, who was also the editor. On the 17th of August, 1883, the paper passed into the hands of a stock company of eleven members-C. W. Todd being president; W. W. Fletcher, secretary ; and C. H. Ellis, treasurer. The company secured the services of William Geddis as editor, who remained but a short time. Dr. Fletcher subsequently edited the paper until the end of a year, when the material was sold to the Chronicle Company, of Montrose, and removed to that place. The Union- dale post-office was established April 23, 1852, with George W. Arnold as the postmaster. The subse- quent appointees have been, January 10, 1855, John Miller; December 20, 1856, Alanson Tilden ; April 19, 1861, John Miller ; January 3, 1871, Charles H. Ellis ; November 30, 1880, Ann E. Ellis ; September 15, 1885, Ira W. Ryder.

Union Lodge, No. 51, I. O. of G. T., has held its mectings at Uniondale since the time it was insti- tuted, August 13, 1886. The membership was rap- idly increased from sixteen to forty-eight, but meeting with reverses, the number declined to twenty in the spring of 1887. Interesting meetings are held in the Larrabee school-room. This room was fitted up in the spring of 1886 to accommodate the select school established in April, that year, by Alf. W. Larrabee, and which has been successfully continued by him since that time. The school has had an encouraging patronage, and has been the

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

means of awakening an interest in higher education. The first school-house in this part of Herrick was built within the present bounds of Uniondale, in 1819, and Gurdon H. Tracy taught a few months, when it was burned, and there is no record that another building took its place. The present school building at Uniondale was erected in 1878 by the township of Herrick, with the co-operation of the people of the village. It is a two-story frame, twenty- four by forty feet, and accommodates two schools. In 1879 the course of study was graded by the princi- pal, Alf. W. Larrabee, but on account of many changes, it has been found difficult to maintain the standard required in a graded school.

The Uniondale Presbyterian Church .- It is stated that religious meetings were first held in this locality in 1812, when an old, illiterate, but devout Baptist came into the neighborhood and preached so acceptably that, to induce him to remain among them, the neigh- bors united in building him a small log house, where he lived alone and preached occasionally about a year. At the end of that time Oliver Hill, a mis- sionary from the Connecticut Society, came and lab- ored a short time, and, the winter following, had quite a revival. In consequence the Congregational Church of Mt. Pleasant was organized in January, 1814, with sixteen members, embracing, among others Edward and Esther Dimmick, Ransford and Chloe Smith, Blackleach and Sally Burritt and Ruth Buck- ingham, who resided in what was then Clifford town- ship. These and others from this section retained their connection with the Mt. Pleasant Church until 1833, when thirty-one members withdrew and, with twelve others, united in forming the present church. Stephen Ellis, Luke Harding and Martial Dimmick were chosen the first ruling elders, and three years later Samuel Burritt and Artemas Carpenter were ordained to that office, the former remaining an act- ing elder until his death, in 1863. Subsequent elders were Robert M. Arnold, Elijah Carpenter, Israel Rounds, Zenas Rounds, Trevenen Mills, Eber Dim- mick, Osmer Carpenter, C. H. Ellis, M. O. Dimmick, J. E. Thomas and T. B. Dimmick, the three last named being the present elders.

The Uniondale and the Mt. Pleasant Churches have had a common ministry when there was a regular pastor, but when the church was first organized Stephen Ellis, one of the members, held services. In 1835 the Rev. Henry A. Boyce was installed the first pas- tor, but in little more than a year he was removed by death. He was succeeded by the Rev. Anthony McReynolds, who was installed September 27, 1837, and remained about two years. For a time the pulpit was supplied by the Revs. Sherer, McEwen and others officiating. On the 23d of September, 1841, the Rev. Daniel Higbie entered upon a very useful pastorate, which continued five years. He was succeeded, July 7, 1846, by the Rev. Samuel Whaley, who was the pastor eleven years. Then came frequent

changes of ministers, the Rev. Israel B. Smith preach- ing two years and a half from September, 1857 ; the Rev. Albert G. Beebe, from June, 1860, for two years ; the Rev. Raphael Kessler, from 1862 to 1866 ; the Rev. James B. Fisher from May, 1867, for a little more than a year and a half; the Rev. Yates Hickey from October, 1869, to June, 1870; the Rev. James W. Raynor from July, 1870, for two years ; the Rev. Adelbert J. Schlager from November, 1872, for three years ; the Rev. Arthur Folsom until July 2, 1876 ; the Rev. Joseph A. Rossell from February, 1878, un- til May, 1881 ; and the Rev. John Ludlow Kendall, who was installed May 16, 1882, and still continues as the pastor. From the congregation has gone as a minister the Rev. Francis M. Dimmick.

The first house of worship at Uniondale was built in 1835, and was a plain small frame. It had centre slips and side seats, and was used in this way until it was remodeled during the pastorate of the Rev. Whaley. In 1868 the old building was removed from its site, and the present edifice placed thereon, and occupied in the fall of the same year. It is thirty-five by fifty feet and twenty feet high, the roof being surmounted by a spire in which has been placed a good bell. When erected the church cost three thousand five hundred dollars, and it has since been internally beautified. On the 10th of August, 1868, it was placed in charge of an incorporated board of trustees, composed of R. M. Arnold, E. V. Dim- mick, Martial Dimmick, T. Mills, I. Rounds and D. A. Moon, whose successors now control the prop- erty. The congregation has had a large aggregate . membership, which has been diminished by the for- mation of other churches. In 1887 there were eighty members. The Sabbath-school has a larger member- ship, and is in charge of Elmer Rounds. For many years Elijah Carpenter was the superintendent.

The Uniondale Methodist Episcopal Church was or- ganized in the fall of 1876 as a branch of the Her- rick Circuit, with seven members, among them being Isaac T. Curtis and wife, and members of the West- gate family. In 1878 the old school building was removed to an eligible lot and repaired for a house of worship, being formally dedicated in 1879. About this time Uniondale, Dundaff and a few other ap- pointments became a separate circuit, with the name Uniondale, and a few years later a parsonage was erected in the borough for the use of the minister. On the 19th of November, 1884, the church became an incorporated body, with the following trustees : William Anderson, Israel Rounds, W. N. Norton, Israel T. Curtis, Maurice O. Rounds, C. W. Todd and Albert Corey. The five first-named continue to serve and control the property, which is valued at one thousand eight hundred dollars.

The preachers in charge since the building of the church have been the Revs. R. P. Christopher, C. W. Todd. J. H. Littel and W. H. Hiller. The church has sixty-nine members, many being added,

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as the fruits of a camp-meeting held near the village in 1885-86. The Sabbath-school was organized in 1875, and had Isaac T. Curtis as its first superinten- dent. It has since been successfully maintained.

The Free Methodist Church of Uniondale .- The fami- lies of Hugh and Stephen Bronson constituted the early members of this sect at Uniondale, and through their efforts a small, but neat frame meeting-house was built in 1878, in which worship was thereafter statedly held. This remained the personal property of the Bronson family until the fall of 1866, when it was sold to the congregation, and, on the 22d of November, 1886, passed under the control of an in- corporated board of trustees, composed of Stephen Bronson, John H. Smith, Albert Smith, Austin B. Cole and Orlando Darrow. The church has about twenty members, forming a class of which Stephen Bronson is the leader.

CHAPTER LIII.

ARARAT TOWNSHIP.

THE township of Ararat was erected from parts of Herrick, Thomson and Gibson, by decree of court in August, 1852. Eleven years later a change was made in the boundary line between it and Jackson, about the same angle being added to the latter township in the north part of the line that is given to Ararat in the south part. The township, in its greatest width and length, is about five miles on the west and through the centre, by four on the north, south and east. It is bounded on the north by Thomson, on the east by Wayne County, on the south by Herrick, and on the west by Gibson and Jackson. Dunn Pond is its largest lake ; it empties into Mud Pond near the county line. There is a good water-power at the out- let of Mud Pond. Fiddle and Ball's Ponds furnish tributaries to the main stream. Ararat is an el- evated table land, being about two thousand and forty feet above the sea level. Lying upon the dividing waters between the Starrucca, Tunkhannock and Lackawanna, the township has no deep-cut ravines and its average surface is more nearly level than that of any other township in the county. The western slope descends into the valley of the Tunkhannock, forming the only hills of any consequence in the township. Ararat township was named for Mount Ararat, just across the line in Wayne County, which rises twenty-six hundred feet above the tide-water, and from whose heights a very extended and beautiful view can be obtained. From some of the more favor- able eminences in Ararat township the eye sweeps a circuit of more than one hundred and fifty miles, and takes in points in ten counties, viz., Delaware and Broome in New York; Susquehanna, Bradford, Tioga,

Sullivan, Wyoming, Luzerne, Lackawanna and Wayne in Pennsylvania. The Harmony road passes through the town along the brow of a hill, forming a level and pleasant route, overlooking the several branches of the Tunkhannock, whose deep-cut valley lies alongside below like the bowl of a great spoon. From the east- ern rim of this spoon-bowl the eye stretches away in- to magnificent distances, taking in the entire circuit of the Susquehanna River from a little below Susque- hanna to Tunkhannock, including many prominent points beyond. Perhaps there is no more beautiful drive, where a more extended landscape view can be obtained in the State, than is found on this " Har- mony road," which was the first road opened to trav- el in the township. It commenced at the tavern of Asahel Gregory, on the Cochecton and Great Bend turnpike, in the township of Clifford (now Herrick), and extended nearly north and south through the west central part of Ararat and the western part of Thomson, through Harmony to Lanesborough, a dis- tance of about fifteen miles. This road was located prior to 1809, but it was not opened until 1810. The first settlers upon this road reached their destination by a zig-zag bridle path, used by the land agents and surveyors, which led from Potter's tavern, in Gibson, where Stephen Potter now resides, to the place Dea- con John Tyler, the local land agent, had selected for his home. Although the Harmony road was never a stage or mail-route it was the road where a number of the first settlers located, and was much used by drovers of horses, cattle, sheep and hogs going to the Philadelphia markets, and by raftsmen returning from their lumber markcts. The only tavern kept upon this road was by David Spoor, in 1821-22, in Deacon John Tyler's old house ; but the inhabitants along the road were not forgetful to entertain stran- gers, and travelers suffered very little inconvenience.

What was known from the first as Ararat settle- ment was a compact little colony of settlers along the Harmony road and branches. Beginning with Ezra Walker, who settled three miles from Gregory's tavern, in 1817, and cleared a large farm and raised a large family. After residing there for nearly half a century his estate came into the possession of Mrs. L. Shaver. Jabez Tyler settled on the farm joining on the north, in 1812, now known as the Dr. Rogers farm. Freeman Peck began on the next farm in 1811, but was succeeded by William West in 1812, who built the first house on the lot now occupied by John Potter and J. A. Tinklepaugh. The next farm was that of Deacon John Tyler, who settled there in 1810, with a reserved lot on the north, which fell to his granddaughter, Mrs. Edmund T. Worth, and her children, who settled there about 1820, whose log house was upon the ground now occupied by the Presbyterian Church, on the farm now owned by C. E. Stone. The next farm was settled upon by David Hine in 1815, on the property now owned by Nicholas Stone and S. M. Stearns. Next came Hezekiah

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HISTORY OF SUSQUEHANNA COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Bushnell, who located in 1809 and settled in 1810, where his son James C. Bushnell now resides. Shubael Williams settled in 1812 on the farm joining on the north and west, now owned by Sylvester King and E. H. Bloxham. John Snow settled on the next farm in 1814, his log house occupying the site of School-house No. 3. The farm is now divided and occupied by L. A. Doyle, Mary and William Doyle and Henry Davis. The next farm was occupied by Jacob Clark, who settled in 1811-12 upon land located by his father in 1809, now occupied by S. N. Brooks. These were all settlers upon the Harmony road, and there was not an unoccupied lot between them. In 1824, when Oliver Harper was murdered upon this road, there was not an inhabitant north of Jacob Clark's until within one-half mile of the river at Lanesboro', a distance of nine and one-half miles. Here Mr. Bacon lived on what has been more recently known as the John Rogers place. On the south, be- tween Ezra Walker's and Asahel Gregory's, were two small clearings, but no inhabitant. One was made by D. Burgess, where Mrs. Walters lives, about 1814. The other was made by Mr. Pearce about the same time, now occupied by James Plew. The next place, adjoining the Clark farm north, was settled by Sam- uel Williams, sccond son of Shubael Williams, about 1840, afterwards occupied by Sherman Williams, and now by his widow. The next farm was settled by Charles Baldwin, 1852, and that is the last farm on the Harmony road in Ararat township. The farm is now owned by A. D. Stone. The Ararat settlement was unfortunately located upon the line between Harmony and Clifford townships. The inhabitants north of the Presbyterian Church were in Harmony, and by subdivisions in Jackson and Thomson. Those south of the church were in Clifford, then in Gibson and Herrick. Some in the southwestern part of the settlement remained in Gibson until the towu- ship of Ararat was formed. That the formation of this settlement into a separate township did not sooner appear as a practical necessity seems now a little strange. Under the circumstances, the com- munity, which was a unit in settlement and isolated from other neighborhoods by wilderness barriers, was on the border line of several townships, without any municipal organization, a prey to other localities, while receiving little or no benefit in return. Upon the passage of the school law, authorizing a board of directors to subdivide the townships into districts, the situation was most perplexing. The school-house built by subscription in 1829 for the double purpose of a school and a meeting-house, though central for the community, was right on the township line. It could neither be removed nor abandoned. To main- tain a joint school by four townships was unsatisfac- tory ; to divide up into four schools was detrimental to each. The latter alternative at length prevailed, but the old school-house stands, having served as a place of stated worship for the Congregationalists for

more than twenty years, for Sunday-schools, day- schools, club-room, dwelling-house and election- house alternately or successively for fifty-eight years. Unpainted and neglected, it still stands, and is used for elections, auditors' meeting and all town purposes now. The most active men in building this school- house were Jabez Tyler, Shubael Williams, Hezekiah Bushnell and Jacob Clark. The latter in particular gave much time and labor to its construction. Ararat township is now divided into five school dis- tricts, with as many school-houses. The first log school-house stood opposite the Presbyterian Church and was built about 1813. Lucinda Carpenter, after- wards wife of David Avery, was the first teacher, with scven pupils. The first school in Simonds' settlement was taught by Harriet Tyler, in her father, Simeon Tyler's, house, about 1830. Of the old settlers, Jabez Tyler's family furnished five teachers, Shubael Wil- liams' family six, Hezekiah Bushnell's four, Nathaniel West's three, David Avery's three. At the first township election Norman Todd, brother of Rev. G. N. Todd, was elected justice of the peace and town clerk, and George A. Brush was elected consta- ble. Samuel Williams, G. O. Baldwin, B. H. Dix, J. H. Tooley, J. E. Payne and J. C. Bushnell have been commissioned justices of the peace, the latter five times. J. E. Payne and Julius Tyler were elected in 1887.

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Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, Part 164

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848- Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck Number of Pages: 1318

Author: Stocker, Rhamanthus Menville, 1848-
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa. : R. T. Peck
Number of Pages: 1318